Nuclear Power – The Best Alternative Energy?
People may argue that 25% of the world’s energy is produced through nuclear power, but what they do not understand is all the problems it brings:
1 – It is expensive:
Nuclear power plants are definitely not a cheap investment. At around six to twelve billion dollars each – just for installation – taxpayers have subsidized billions of dollars to keep the utilities afloat. This money could have been invested in cleaner renewable energies instead.
2 – Does not aid global warming:
Nuclear enthusiast argue that reactors emit very little green-house gases. But what they do not realize is all the carbon dioxide released in other links in the nuclear chain. For example – gas-guzzling machines are used to mine the uranium, transport it to the reactors, and help build the reactor itself.
Furthermore, their construction takes too long to solve global warming. In fact, investing in nuclear power deprives other efforts – such as energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy – of further funding and development.
3 – What happens to all that radioactive waste?
20 to 30 tonnes of highly radioactive waste is produced by just one nuclear plant every year. This excludes what the authorities like to call “low” level radioactive waste produced in the rest of the supply chain – such as during the enrichment process.
4 – A damaged reactor could lead to a catastrophe:
All nuclear plants are vulnerable to accidents or attacks. Nevertheless, if an accident did occur, the current evacuation plans are completely unrealistic. In addition, the Price-Anderson Act ensures the utility’s liability of an accident is limited to only $10.8 billion. This is absurd, considering a serious reactor accident could cause as much as $600 billion of damage. Once again, the balance would likely have to be paid by us, the taxpayers.
5 – Increased risk of cancer:
Though authorities deem the levels of radiation emitted to be “safe”, children and other vulnerable individuals are not taken into account when reaching this conclusion. This is very irresponsible, and could lead to more cancer cases as the number of reactors increases.
We have also been misled about how safe it really is to “dispose” of all this radioactive waste. There is no scientific proof to show where the safest place to dump the waste is. And more nuclear plants would make the problem worse. There are only so many “safe” storage facilities. Any additional waste would have to be either burned or dumped in landfills – leading to air and water pollution.
6 – Where there’s nuclear power, there’s war and terrorism:
This has been seen at the September 2007 bombing of Syria’s suspected nuclear site by Israel, and the controversy over Iran’s nuclear program. Reactors will always set the stage for atomic weapons production. So, as long as power plants exist, there will always be tension over the possibility of a nuclear attack. Furthermore, reactors are soft targets for terrorists to get hold of nuclear materials, so the more reactors built, the greater the risk.
7 – There are greener energy solutions:
What frustrates us is that we we should rather be spending our time and money on the development of safer, cleaner, renewable energy solutions, such as erecting more solar plants and wind farms. Hopefully with Obama’s administration, nuclear energy will be phased out and largely replaced with the implementation of renewable energy.
But while we wait, it is possible to start harnessing renewable energy at home. What’s more is, it does not cost very much and is rather simple to implement. Various solar and wind power guides have already become available, which you can see in our reviews section.